Trimming mechanism for sewing-machines.



J. P. WEIS,

TRIMMINGMEGHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 19, 1905.

Patented May '7, 1912.

J. P. WEIS. TRIMMING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 19, 1905.

Patented May 7, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

J. P. WBIS.

TRIMMING MEGHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 19, 1905.

1,025,55Q, Patented May 7,1912.

y 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3. fizzy a. v

J. P. WEIS.

TRIMMING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 19, 1905.

1,025,552. Patented May 7, i812.

, 4 SHEETS KSHEET i.

H 6 I I 4? 1 A 7 I; H /.9 57 76 I iii ' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN P. WEIS, OF NYACK, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO METROPOLITAN SEWING MA- CHINE COMPANY, OF NYACK, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

TRIMMING MECHANISM FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May '7, 1912.

Application filed September 19, 1905-. Serial No. 279,116.

1'0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN P. Wins, a

citizen of the United States, residing in Nyack, county of Rockland, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Trimming Mechanism for SewingMachincs of which the following 15 a description.

This invention relates to trimming mechin advance of the stitching perfectly and cfl'cctively; to provide a. trimming mechanism having a construction such that, when out of operation; it will act as a guide for the edge of the work; to provide a trimming mechanism which may be thrown into and out of operation While the machine is running and without affecting the stitching or changing or modifying the usual working of the sewing "machine; to provide a trimming mechanism which may be readily detached from the machine without-disturbing any part of said machine whatsoever; to provide a novel actuating mechanism for the trin'nncr, consisting of parts which may be readily separated for throwing the trimmer out of operation and quickly connecting it for starting the trimmer into'oporation allwhile thc machine is in operation and at thewill of the operator, and without affecting the usual functions of the machine, to provide means for adjusting the trinnncr-bladcs relatively; to provide means forefl ectivcly disposing of the trimming or edge which is cut from the work; to pro vide means by which the elevation of the lower blade relatively to the surface of the cloth-plate may be ga'ged. determined, and cfl'cctivclv set; and to provide various other details of improvement hereinafter described and set forth.

Vith the above objects in view. the in vcntion consists in the partsfeaturcs, combinations of elements and mechanisms hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings forming part of this description: Figure 1 shows in rear elevation so much of a sewing maclune as is deemed necessary to illustrate my invention, the frame ofithe machine being shown in dotted lines and the important features in full lines; Fig. 2 is a section of the clothplate taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1; Fig.- 3 is a top plan of the cloth-plate shown detachcd from the machine; Fi 4 is a verti- I cal cross-section of the machlne taken just back of the presser-foot and showing the details of the trimming mechanism; Fig. 5 is a top plan of the cloth-plate, similar to Fig. 3, but showing the presser-foot in poin operative I vation of Fig. 5, the trimmer blades, however, being omitted;.Fig. 7 is a. view similar to Fig. 4, but showing certain portions in section in order to clearly illustrate thc'detachable connection between the drivingshaft and the trimming mechanism; Fig. 8

1s a side elevation of the trimming mechanism detached and showing certain details of construction; Fig. 9 is a front eleva-tion of the trimming mechanism of Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is a top plan view of the trimming mechanism of Fig. 8; Figs. 11, 12. 1.3 and 14 are detail views ofportions of the triniming mechanism hereinafter described.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates generally the frame of the' tiiachine. 2 the bed-plate thereof, 3 the driving-shaft, 4 the combined balance-wheel and 'sition, the trimmer-blades in operative rcla- .t1on thereto and the guard-plate closed and position; Fig. 6 1s a rear elea driving-pulley; 5 the pitman connection be- 1 tween the usual eccentric on the drivingshaft and the'ncedlcnrm for actuating the needle-bar 6. which carries the needle 7. The presser-bar is indicated at- 8. having the shank-portion 9 of the prssenfool clamped thereto in usual manner, the foot 10 being pivoted to said shank by means of the screw 10. The cloth-plate 11 is provided with the rear, inclined chutc-portionlil and a transverse, diagonally-disposed groove 13 for guiding the thread to the spreader said groove being covered by *a guard 14 which extends nearly across said slot laterallv, leaving anal-row slot at the rear edge as shown in Fig. 2. In the side 1.5 of the cloth-plate an opening 16 is provided partially covered guard-plate 1:}, at its other end said guardplate being provided with an upturned end 18, the function of which will be hereinafter by upturned end 17 of the 3 26 provided with a notch 27, through which thread, chain-stitch.

at in the depression 23 of the cloth-plate,

said guard-plate having an enlarged head the spreader works,- and with an upturned 3 end 28 cofiperating with the upturned end 18 of. the guard-plate 14. These two portions 18 and 28, coiiperating to defiectthe trimming into the chute 12, and the end 18 of the guard-plate also acting as a guide for the trimmed edge of the work and is so constructed as to avoid drag upon said edge and snagging the same. When in position,

:the guard 24 is held by an eccentric 29,

pivoted to the cloth-plate bythe screw 30; and the guard is provided with the upweirdly-extending overhanging-portion 31, which acts as a finger-piece by means of which the guard-head 26 may be lifted over .the holding eccentric 29, and also has the function of guarding the fingers of the operator from contact with either the needle or the trimming mechanism. The extension 32 on the guard cotlperates with the throat plate 33 and with the undercut portion 34 thereof. The throat-plate 33 is provided I with the usual feed-slots 35 and with a slot 36 in which the trimmer-blades work, and in advance of said slot with a tongue 37 over which the stitches are formed and from which they slip as the feed takes place. A holding plati 8 is secured to the clothplate by a screw 39 in advance of the throatplate and aids in holding the same in place, the said throat-plate at its rear end being held by a screw 40 and a, stitch-adjusting mechanism generally indicated by 41.cooperating with the rear end of saidthroatplate for the purpose ofadjusting the same to create dragupon the work; all as set forth in my patent granted April 25,1911, No. 990,411.

42 is a sight-hole in which may be placed .a lens, through which the feed-adjusting mechanism may be viewed in order to erly adjust the length of the stitch. I

43 is the feed-rocker journaled to the bedplate at 44 and actuated in any usual manner from the driving-shaft, said. rocker carrying at its upper end the feed-bar 45 propwhich in turn, 'at its forward end has cured to it thefeed-dog e 6, ih vertical rise and fall of said dog heing acc mpl'ished, by.

means of the pivotally connected strap 47, driven from an eccentric on the drivin shaft 3, all as usual.

The trimming mechanism includes the bracket 48 secured to the front ei lgeof the bed-plate, the latter being provided with a :detachable and adjustable front-plate -19 held in position by the screw 50 which passes through the slot 51, the position of this plate on the bracket 48 providing a seat 52 in which is set the lower edge of the trimmer-frame 53, the flange or reduced portion 54 being provided;to cr'ioperate with said seat 52. Inthe faceof the bracket 4-8 transverse grooves 55 are formed which receive the lugs 56 on the back' of the trimmer-frame 53,'this means resulting in properly centering the trimmer in the machine and holding the same from vibration or movement in the latter. -Bracket 48 is also provided with the, o ning 57, through which operates thexte escopic pitman for actuating the trimming mechanism. The trimmer-frame is also provided with the parallel arms 58, in the upper end of which is journaled the bell-crank trimmerdever, as at 59', the depending arm 60 of said lever having pivoted thereto the headed rod ('31, which enters the tubular strap 62, which surrounds theeccentric 63 on the drivingshaftS. It will thus'be seen that the con nection between the dri ing-shaft and the trimmer-lever istelescopic and that the rod 61 may freely slide within the sleeve (32. However, for actuating the trnnmculevcr, the rod 61 and sleeve 62 must be rigidly connected so that the movement of the eccentric on the driving-shaft may be communicated to the trimmer-lever. .This' is acconmlished by pivoting upon the head of the rod 61 a bell-crank latch-lever 64, one-arm ofwhich V provides a handle and the other arm of whi'ch is extended into thehook G5 which drops over and engages a pin 66, carried by plished by clamping upon the tube ()2 a collar 67, carrying said pin (16. The tube carries in it a coiled spring (33, which is held from sliding therefrom by means of a pin 69 passing through the wall of the tube and between two of the coils of said spring. The function of this spring is to eject the rod 66 partially from the tube and thus antomatically depress the trinnner-hladc car= ried by the arm 70 of the trinuncr-lcver, said blade being indicated by 71. This 0peration will occur instantly the latch-lever 64 is raised from engagement of the pin (56 to .detach the sectional pitman or strap (it -(32,

nism is out of operation and constituting aproperly disposed stop for limiting the downward movement ol. the trimmer-blade so as to position the euttingedge 3 of said blade just below the eomplemental edge of the stationary ledger-blade Tl, carried by z stationary part 75 of the trimmer-frame and held in place by the cam-lever To, pivoted at 77 to said frame the upper end of lever 76 engaging the ledger-blade 7-1 and firmly holding it in adjusted position. When the trimmer-blade T1 is thus lowered, its upper broadened end TS operates as a guide for the edge of the work, thus providing" a means, when the trimming, ineehanism-is thrown out of operation, for guiding the edge of the work properly relatively to the stitelrforming mechanism and pre renting said work from leaving its proper position for application oi. the"stitching.- It will thus be seen that the trimming is done or accomplished by an overhanging trimn'ier-blade operating from below up through the cloth-plate and that by thus disposing the triminer-blade, and having all the actuating parts of the trimmer n1echa- IliSll'l below the cloth-plate, an absolutely tmohstrueted. surface of the cloth-plate is provided for manipulation of the worlt, thus avoiding any interference with the proper disposition ofthe work and manipulation of the latter by the operator, The trimmer frame 53 is provided with the oppositely extending lugs 79, which are engaged by and enter notches SO in the latch-levers 81, pivoted on opposite sides of the braoket 48, as at 82. The journal 5!) of the trinnnerlever is screw-threaded at one end, as at Q9, Figs. 9 and 10 and has applied to said screwthreaded portion outside the frame the clamping-nut 83 which, when loosened, permits the manipulation of the adjusting nut 84 for moving the said journal laterally in the triminer-frame to thue rause the trimmer-hlade 71 to bear w'th more or less pres-- sure against the sideof the ledger-blade 74.

To the top of the trimmer-tranie, close be ide the ledger-blade T4, is secured a gage or indicator $5, the horizontal portion of which is seated in a depression of said t'rame and securely held by means of the screws 86 and the forward end'of which provided with the upturned and curred tln trer 8?, which extends into engagement with the ledger-blade 7-1 at its rear edge to operate to gage the position oi said led; gcr-bl:nle when the latter is placed in the machine and'pushed upwardly until it has reached tl proper position for cooperation with the trimmerhlade 71: that is to any, for proper cot'lperation with the trimmer-blade, the ledger-blade T lshould hav a certain fixed operative position which will place its upper edge substantially flush with tlu throat or cloth plate, and in order to prevent said ledger-blade from being projected too far through said cloth or throat plate, the gage or indicator 85 is provided, which j is set so as to place its finger 87 in position so that the ledger-blade 74 will he set in the proper position by the operator. This page or indicatm'has been found to be quite eon- -\'cnient and important, owing to the fact that, when the letilger-blade is removed from themaehine for grinding and sharpening, an inexperienced operator, in replacing the said blade, is quite liable to misplaee or. misset said blade, and thus materially attect blade to interfere with the bottom of the work. With the gage or indicator, the operator has only to slide the ledgenhlade until it is flush with the top of said gage and then clamp the said blade in position. To further protect the operator from injury by the trimming mechanism, the presser 'foot is provided, at its for ard end, with a guard 87, which extends yer-tieally, as shown in Fig. 7, and is provided with a shank-portion 88. secured to the toe of the presser-friot by a screw 89.

Having thus described the details of my invention. the following description of operation will be readily understood: lVith the parts-shown in the position of Fig. 4, the eccentrieon the driving-shaft will actuate the triinmerdever sons to reeiprocatc the trimmer-blade beside the ledger-blade. and the o-verhan r'ing cutting, edge of said trimmer-blade will permit the work to pass tl'tereunder, resulting in efl'ectivelytrimininn the edge of the 'worlt in advance of the iltitehing'. When it is desired to throw the trimn'iing mechanism out of operation. the operator has simply to depress the oper' ating arm oi" the lateh-lever 64, thus disengaging its hook (3'5 from the pin 66 on the tubular portion (Bot the pitman, this operation resulting in permitting the spring ($9 in said tube to Force the. rod (ll partially from said tuherthus depressing the arm 70 of the trinnning lever into engagement with its stop 72, thus depressing the cutting-edge of the trimmer-blade below the complemental edge of the ledger-blade and hold ing the same in proper position For enabling tor the 't'abrie. From this time the eccentric on the driving-shaft il will have no elleet upon the trinmier-lever. but will merely impart idle movement to the strap l oz. The stop 72 also operates as a limit for lively to thetuhe 62, thus preventing the entire detachment of said rod from said tube Land also preventing the two parts of the strap from being thrown into such position 'that they may not be readily connected for operation of the trimming mechanism at the out ard movement of the rod (ll rela-' the trin'u'niug function, or cause the saidsaid trimmer-blade to act as an edgeguide will. lVith the trinniiing mechanism thrown 13-;

out of operation, the machine will perform its usual functions, but the edge of the workwill not 7} trimmed. Vi hen the operator desires, the trimmer may be thrown into operation again by merely pushing the lower arm of the/trimmer-lever forward so as to compress the spring Within the tube 62 and thus bring the book of thelatch-lever 64? in position so that, manipulating said levr, the hook can he passed over the pin 66 on the ttibe, thus connecting the strapportions softhat the eccentric will properly operate the latter for driving the trimmerlever. "When the operator desires he may detach the entire trimming mechanism from the machine by first unhooking the latch lever from the pin 66 on the tube of the pit-- man and then lifting the levers 81 from the pins 7'9 and then by slightly tilting the trimming mechanism toward him and lifting the trimmer-frame from the bracket, so as to disengage the lower edge 54 and lift the same from the seat 5201": said bracket. This can be done at any time even during the operation of the machine, without affecting the usual functions of the latter,

From the above description, it will be seenjth at many advantages are derived from applicants construction, among which may be ,noted the following: A compact, simple and reliable. trimming mechanism is produced which may be readily detached from the machine atthe will of the operator, irrespective of whether the machine is running or not; the trimmingmechanism may be thrown into and out of operation while the machine is running, thus enabling the operator to trim at will; the trimmer-blade.

may he adjustedrelatively to the letlgen blade by a simple manipulation of a binding and an adjusting nut; the ledger-blade may be set in proper position beyond per- :ul'venture of misadjnstment; the trimmerhladc may be so constructed as to operate upon the thickest and the thinnest work by merely altering the size of the space below its trinuning' edge and between the latter and its shank; when the trimn1er-l. lade has been thrown out o? operation, it then becomes a guiilineidevice which is found to he extraordinarily convenientand very valuable, owing to the fact that it is next to impossible, in high-speed machines, to properly guide the Work to keep the stitching straight, and the provision of this mech anism completely eliminating all necessity for providing on the cloth-plate: the fingers of the operator are prevented from contact with the trimmer-blades by providing the guards, both on the pressenfoot and the cloth-plate, and the guard-plate having the particular construction described provides'means for deflecting or shunting the'trimming so as to prevent the same from getting in the way ot the stitching mocha scopic memes nism after the edge of the work has been properly trimmed, the devices described, via, the upturned fingers 28 and 18 on the guard and guard-plate, respectively, cooperating to perform these functions.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

y 1. In combination with a sewing machine, having a cloth-plate provided with a chute in rear of the stitching position, a trimming mechanism operating to trim the edge of the work, and. means for shunting the trimmed edge from the stitching position into the said chute.

2 A. trimming mechanism including, in combination, trimmer-blades; an eccentric on the driving-shaft of the machine; a strap engaging said. eccentric having a tubular extension; a rod carried by the trimming mechanism in position to enter said tubular extension; :1 spring within said tubular ex tension normally tending to force the rod from the latter; means for holding the teleparts operatively together; and means whereby the parts of the telescopic connection may be detached during the operation of the trimming mechanism.

3. In combination with a sewing machine,

trimming mechanism secured thereto below the work-plate and having a trimmer-blade, means for projecting said blade through the work-plate for trimming, and means whereby the trimmer-blade may be thrown out of operation and so located as to operate as a. work-guide. v ,4. A trimming mechanism including a reciprocating trimmer-blade, means for throwing the same into and out of operation at will; and a stop for positively locating the trimmcr-blade, when it is thrown out of operation, with its body-portion in position to operate as an edge-guide for the work.-

5. A trimming mechanism including, in

Til

combination, trimmer-blades; an eccentric on the drivin shaft of the machine; a strap engaging sai eccentric; a telescopic connection between said eccentric strap and one of said blades, including a rod pivoted to the trimming mechanism; means for holding the telescopic parts oporatively together including a latch mounted concentrically with the pivot of said rod; and means connected with said latch for manipulating the latter,

and accessibly presented to the operator whereby the parts of the telescopic oonnec tion may he released during the operation? of the trimming mechanism.

6. A trimming mechanism for sew1ng machines comprising a trimmer-frame; a

ledgenhlede and a trimmer-blade carried by said frame; a holding-bracket for support ing the trimmer-frame; said bracket being .provided on opposite sides with pivoted trimmer-blade and a. ledger-blade, means cooperating with the ledger-blade by which to gage the proper operative position latches, and the trimmer-frame being provided on opposite sides with laterally-extending pins for cooperating with said latches, whereby when the trimmer-frame is set upon the'holding-braoketthe latches may be turned into engagement with the pins to hold the parts firmly together.

' 7. A trimming mechanism comprisinga and thereof relatively to the trimmer-blade, said finger located adjacent the ledger-blade and 15 cooperating with the latter. I

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. a

JOHN P. WEIS.

Witnesses:

(VILLIS C. ROBBINS, M. VENEKAMP. 

